68,614 Hawkins, Inc. $HWKN Shares Bought by ProShare Advisors LLC

Key Points

• ProShare Advisors increased its Hawkins stake by 2,429.7% in the third quarter, adding 68,614 shares to bring its holdings to 71,438 shares, worth about $9 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.71% of the stock.
• Hawkins reported quarterly EPS of $1.34, above the $1.19 consensus estimate, and revenue of $313.82 million, also ahead of expectations. Analysts have a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $178.50.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend from $0.19 to $0.20 per share, equivalent to $0.80 annually and a 0.5% yield.

ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN - Free Report) by 2,429.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 71,438 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after acquiring an additional 68,614 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.34% of Hawkins worth $9,001,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in HWKN. Summit Global Investments raised its holdings in shares of Hawkins by 144.8% in the 3rd quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 3,909 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $493,000 after buying an additional 2,312 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its position in shares of Hawkins by 6.1% during the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 5,783 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $729,000 after purchasing an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. BOKF NA boosted its position in Hawkins by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. BOKF NA now owns 1,835 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $231,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Gibbs Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Hawkins by 4.8% in the third quarter. Gibbs Wealth Management now owns 3,158 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $398,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hawkins by 842.0% in the 3rd quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 650 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $82,000 after purchasing an additional 581 shares during the last quarter. 69.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on HWKN shares. Barclays set a $157.00 price objective on Hawkins and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Hawkins from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Monday, September 21st. BWS Financial reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Hawkins in a report on Tuesday, October 27th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Hawkins from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $178.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Jeffrey Oldenkamp purchased 1,290 shares of Hawkins stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 27th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $119.00 per share, with a total value of $153,510.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 104,223 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,402,537. This represents a 1.25% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Douglas Lange bought 910 shares of Hawkins stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $118.75 per share, for a total transaction of $108,062.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the vice president owned 28,169 shares in the company, valued at $3,345,068.75. This represents a 3.34% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 3.70% of the company's stock.

Hawkins Stock Performance

NASDAQ HWKN opened at $152.85 on Wednesday. Hawkins, Inc. has a 52-week low of $116.04 and a 52-week high of $174.12. The stock has a market cap of $3.18 billion, a PE ratio of 37.10, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.72. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $130.10 and a 200-day moving average of $143.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 2.28.

Hawkins (NASDAQ:HWKN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, October 26th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.15. Hawkins had a return on equity of 15.97% and a net margin of 7.53%. The company had revenue of $313.82 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $302.70 million. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Hawkins, Inc. will post 4.19 EPS for the current year.

Hawkins Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 11th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 10th. This is a boost from Hawkins's previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. Hawkins's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.42%.

About Hawkins

Hawkins, Inc NASDAQ: HWKN is a chemical manufacturer, blender and distributor serving customers across the United States. The company supplies a range of water treatment chemicals, industrial chemicals and specialty products to municipal, commercial and industrial users.

Its water treatment business provides chemicals and related solutions used in drinking water, wastewater and industrial water treatment applications. Hawkins also serves the industrial, health and nutrition, and specialty chemical markets, offering products such as chemical blends, custom formulations and other materials used in manufacturing, agriculture, food processing and pharmaceutical applications.

Founded in 1938, Hawkins is headquartered in Roseville, Minnesota, and operates through a network of manufacturing, blending, distribution and sales locations in the United States.

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